The Liver Group team work on aspects of liver cell biology that are intended to lead to therapeutic advances in liver disease. Specifically, they work in areas of bio-artificial liver support and gene therapy and engineered growth factors. They have developed a bioartificial liver support system based on a human cell line in a biocompatible milieu that leads to three dimensional spheroids of cells that mimic in vivo liver function (BAL beads). The team leaders (Professor Humphrey Hodgson and Dr Clare Selden) work with post-docs, research assistants and PhD students. The team collaborates closely with Professor Barry Fuller (Professor of Cryobiology, Dept Surgery, UCL), Dr Ermanno Gherardi (MRC University Cambridge) and with Professors Wendy Spearman and Delawir Kahn at University of Cape Town, Groote Schuur Hospital, South Africa, where they are trialling the bioartificial liver machine in a large scale model. The work is funded by grants from the Wellcome Trust, NIHR, Peter Samuel Fund, MRC and Liver Group Charity (www.ucl.ac.uk/livergroup )